New Years’ Eve With Mary Jane

31 December 2008 (New Years' Eve)

Winter Park and Mary Jane had some fantastic spring skiing weather today. The sun was out, skiers could be found wearing t-shirts, and the "low" temp was 27° (as read on the temp gauge on my Subaru when I was leaving)- the only problem is that it is still December. The good news is that the powder in the backcountry won't be bottomless. The bad news is that there probably isn't any good powder in the backcountry right now (I don't know since there are no lifts running that will get you access right now). The snow on both mountains was skied so much that it was almost exclusively hard-pack, wind-blown and icy, or some combination thereof. Although, there were spots where the wind had deposited some snow on the leeward side of a run here and there to provide some nicer stuff to ski on. Skiers are obviously hurting for some fresh snow though- the trees had been skied so much that moguls were beginning to form in the tightest of tree stands (an example is pictured below).

A tree stand I skied where the road was well traveled

I started on the Jane side hoping to find the Parsenn Bowl open and get a warm-up run in, with the intent of taking the Panoramic Express from the bottom of Parsenn to hit the Vasquez Cirque (summit at the Cirque is roughly 3700m/12,000'). Unfortunately, as soon as I got off the lift at Lunch Rock I could see bare spots from where I was (roughly 3400m/11,200') and knew immediately that the wind had blown so much snow off the top that it wasn't happening. On a tip from a Patroller who said that there really wasn't any powder anywhere, but that my best bet would be to try over on the Park side, I headed over via Switchyard, crossed into the trees, and dropped into Village Way. From there I headed down the mountain to the Pioneer Express lift hoping to get some decent skiing in along the Vasquez Ridge, but found that the entire area that direction was roped off. I made a run through the trees and one on the Sundance to Chuck Wagon to Lonesome Whistle trails and was disappointed to find that on all of the runs I had taken thus far, the snow over on the Park side was no different than the Jane side (if this is getting confusing, the Winter Park/Mary Jane Ski Area is actually two mountains connected together with bowls at the top of each- see the website at the link provided above).

I headed back over to the Jane side via the Olympia Express and ended up riding the rest of the day through the trees and on the hard-pack on and between Sleeper, Derailer, Side Track, Roundhouse, and Columbine (all black and blue, like my back...keep reading). The snow was pretty much the same everywhere, but even with the Plinko style trees the only collision of any kind I had all day was from a snowboarder shooting the run from my uphill side at the elbow where our trails merged- she hit me full on at my right shoulder. It's okay though, only a few strains and sore muscles, and now she knows why we slow down where trails merge.

I did find one area (in the trees above Village Way, picture at the top of this thread) where there was some powder. Kidding. There was some snow that hadn't been tracked or groomed yet- and that was the best I could find. Unfortunately, it was the heavy stuff that you have a hard time turning in without really working at it (I was exhausted). There were a lot of people on the runs, but since it was New Years' Eve I can't really hold crowds against the folks at the Winter Park/Mary Jane resort. What I can't avoid taking into account though is that anything that is there to be skied has been, so unless you like bumps (even the hard icy kind- not all of them are nice right now) reconsider whether or not you will be planning your next trip to Winter Park before they get some new snow. I do need to give the mountain its due, though; what the resort has going for it are good customer service with friendly staff and a mountain that gets a lot of snow each year, so there is still hope and I expect the current situation to be temporary.

RECOMMENDATION: Wait for more snow and colder temps- they will both come, but for now the skiing is rough.

NEXT WEEK: Copper Mountain